1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to connecting aircraft parts. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for connecting an engine to an aircraft.
2. Background
Engines that provide propulsion for an aircraft may be attached to the wings of an aircraft. An engine that is attached to the wings of an aircraft may take the form of a turbofan. In particular, the turbofan may be a high-bypass turbofan.
These engines may be connected to the wing of an aircraft through a mounting system that mounts the engine under the wing of the aircraft. Mounting these engines higher relative to the wing may be desirable. When mounting these engines closer to the wing, an engine pylon may be used. An engine pylon may include a rigid support structure that is connected to both the wing and the engine and a fairing that is used to cover this support structure.
Typically, the support structure may be connected to the engine using a forward mounting system and an aft mounting system. The aft mounting system may be used to connect the support structure to an engine core case for the engine. The aft mounting system may be configured to carry side loads, vertical loads, and thrust loads.
The forward mounting system may be used to connect the support structure to a fan case for the engine. The forward mounting system may be configured to carry side loads and vertical loads. With some currently available forward mounting systems, the forward mounting system may be connected to a top portion of the fan case. With these types of forward mounting systems, the support structure may be mounted above the fan case of the engine higher than desired. Consequently, the engine may be mounted further away from the wing than desired.
Further, when the support structure is mounted above the fan case using these types of forward mounting systems, the configuration of the fairing used to cover the support structure may be larger than desired. This larger configuration for the fairing may result in a less than desired aerodynamic flow. For example, the height of the fairing may be higher than desired and may reduce a level of aerodynamic performance. As a result, the fuel efficiency of the aircraft may be reduced.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.